Alleging that the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on July 22 presented a “cherry-picked view” of the economy with “fudged” data, the Opposition parties criticised the government, saying the document once again shows that the BJP government is disconnected from reality. 

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh pointed out that food inflation remains unchecked, at nearly 10% per year, with prices of specific foods growing at a rapid pace – cereals at 11%, vegetables at 15%, spices at 19% and milk at 7% – affecting the poor and the middle class. He further said that the “unplanned and unjustified” export ban and flood of cheap imports, as the survey points out, had a debilitating impact on farmer’s incomes. The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) had been forced to shut down because of the rise of imports from China.

Mr. Ramesh said the Economic Survey virtually admits the failure of the Centre’s policymaking with regard to generating private investment. The survey, he said, concedes that “manufacturing sector employment creation has been subdued in the past decade”. 

“India is in its most precarious and difficult economic situation in many years. The Economic Survey might present a cherry-picked view of the economy, but we hope that tomorrow’s Budget faces up to the country’s realities,” the Congress leader said.

‘People’s woes continue’

The Left parties also slammed the Economic Survey, for presenting only a partial picture. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury called it a “mega exercise in data fudging, obfuscating the truth.” “Neither our economic fundamentals nor tackling people’s woes like price rise, unemployment, hunger and poverty have shown any improvement. On the contrary it worsened,” he said in a post on X. 

CPI general secretary D. Raja said the Economic Survey has again shown that the BJP government is disconnected from reality. “Macro-level projections from the Economic Survey do not correspond to the ground. Feigning ignorance and citing lack of data on all important indicators, while singing praises of their rule, is the way of hoodwinking people,” Mr. Raja said in a post on X.